I Am Because We Are
by Pastor Lisa Thomas of Story Church and Director of TBFS
During my time in South Africa this summer, I encountered a word that has stayed with me since I left: Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is often translated as, “I am because we are.” It’s the understanding that our lives are connected and that none of us becomes who we are entirely on our own. We are shaped by our families, our communities, our faith, and the people who walk beside us. My well-being is connected to your well-being. Your pain matters to me. Your joy becomes part of my joy.
Although Ubuntu comes from an African tradition, I believe it’s also a deeply Christian concept. The Apostle Paul describes the church as the body of Christ. We are many different parts, but we belong to one body. Each person has a place. Each person has gifts. Each person matters. When one part suffers, the whole body suffers. When one part rejoices, the whole body rejoices.
In South Africa, I heard so many painful stories about apartheid, injustice, separation, and loss. I stood in the very places where people had been divided according to race and where some were told they mattered less than others. But I also heard stories of courage, reconciliation, faith, and hope.
One lesson I brought home with me is that healing doesn’t happen simply because time passes. Healing happens when people are willing to listen, tell the truth, acknowledge one another’s pain, and choose a different way forward together.
We live in a world that often encourages division. We are told to choose sides, distrust one another, and surround ourselves only with people who think, vote, worship, live, or look like we do. It’s easy to forget that the person on the other side of an issue is still a person created in the image of God.
Ubuntu reminds us that there’s another way. The way of Jesus calls us to see one another, to listen to one another, and to love one another. That doesn’t mean we’ll always agree. We can have different experiences and perspectives while still treating one another with dignity, compassion, and grace.
As we enter September and begin another season of ministry together, what would it look like for us to practice Ubuntu in our church and community? Maybe it begins by noticing the person standing alone. Maybe it means listening to someone’s story without immediately trying to correct them. It might mean reaching out to someone we have not seen recently, welcoming a new face, offering forgiveness, asking for help, or allowing someone else to help carry our burden.
None of us are meant to follow Jesus alone.
There’s so much hope in remembering that we belong to one another. God continues to work through ordinary acts of kindness, faithful prayers, and communities that choose love over fear.
“I am because we are.”
May those words remind us that our lives are all connected. May they challenge us to become the kind of church where every person knows they belong. And may God help us to become a community marked by hope, unity, grace, and love.
Ubuntu my friends!
Blessings,
Pastor Lisa Thomas